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THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[June i, 1910. 



The India-Rubber Trade in Great Britain. 



By Our Regular Correspondent. 



NEW 

 COMPANIES. 



IN the ceaseless flood of new rubber promotion one or two 

 have considerably more interest — either scientific or tech- 

 nical — than others, and I have selected these for a few 

 comments. These arc the Madagascar Rubber Co., Limited, 

 with a capital of £350,000, and the Crude Rubber Washing 

 Co., Limited, with a capital of 

 £250,000. Both of these are pro- 

 moted by the London Venture Cor- 

 poration, Limited, with which British Murac Syndicate is 

 also connected, and the two new companies have certain 

 business arrangements with each other. It is not, however, 

 their family connection that I am concerned with, but rather 

 their particular objects. 



Briefly summarized, the Madagascar company has obtained 

 rights over a large area in that island, where rubber vines 

 are abundant, and it is intended to cut these down and extract 

 the rubber in the new patent Guignet machine, with which 

 experiments have for some time been carried on at Lyons in 

 France. At present it appears that the native methods of 

 extraction, without cutting down the vines, yield only a small 

 proportion of the available rubber, while the machine gives 

 about 3 pounds of rubber from 55 pounds of bark. I cannot 

 go into the details of the construction of the Guignet machine, 

 but I imagine it cannot be anything very different from what 

 I understand has been in operation for some time in the 

 American guayule districts. 



The prospects of the Madagascar company seem to depend 

 a good deal upon the natural reproduction of the rubber 

 vines from seedlings. This is a matter as to which Mr. 

 Hamilton Spence, in his report to the company, expresses 

 himself as being in no doubt whatever, and I have not come 

 across any expressed opinion to the contrary. There seems 

 no reason why this improved method of obtaining Landolphia 

 rubber should be confined to Madagascar, and probably 

 others having got hold of a colorable imitation of the Guignet 

 machine will start operations in West Africa. The new 

 Madagascar rubber is to come in the market in a compara- 

 tively pure and clean state, and as this is a development to 

 be expected in the case of the products from all the new 

 African companies, it would seem that the prospects for the 

 second company I have mentioned do not seem over bright. 



The Crude Rubber Washing Co. prepare, by means of a 

 new washing machine patented by Morland Dessau, of 

 Murac fame, to buy dirty rubber, wash it and sell it to the 

 rubber manufacturers. This is really only an extension of 

 a business which has already been carried on for two years 

 by the British Murac Syndicate, though no details of the 

 profits are referred to in the prospectus. The new company 

 estimates a profit of 25 per cent, on its total capital by the 

 annual sale of 1,000 tons of standardized washed rubber. 

 The company has the exclusive rights of the Guignet rubber 

 cleansing machine for the United Kingdom, the continent of 

 Europe, the United States of America, and the Dominion of 

 Canada. This machine, I may mention, has not yet been 

 patented in the United Kingdom, though the Murac-Dessau 

 machine has already reached this stage. 



Personally I have no interest or connection with any rubber 

 washing machinery, but having seen in operation the new 

 patent "Universal" washer of Werner, Pfleide»er & Perkins, 

 there does not seem to be much difference between this and 

 the Dessau machine, to judge by the description of the latter 

 given in the prospectus. In his report on the Dessau machine 

 Mr. Herbert Wright refers to the probability of large manu- 



facturers, who have put down expensive plants, preferring 

 to continue washing their own raw rubber for some time to 

 come. And if this is the case with those firms having the 

 ordinary washing rolls, how much more will it be the case 

 with firms who have already installed or have in order the 

 Pfleiderer Universal washer? 



I understand — though the information does not emanate 

 from the makers — that no more orders for this machine can 

 be booked for some months to come, owing to the number 

 now under construction. Apart from the large manufacturer, 

 there are no doubt many of the smaller ones who, as Mr. 

 Wright says, doubtless will find it a convenience to be able 

 to obtain definite brands of rubber already washed. It i^ 

 somewhat of a novelty to see the name of Mr. James Swin- 

 burne, the well-known engineer, in connection with a report 

 on a new rubber machine. In his report he says he under- 

 stands the rubbers he saw washed were Mozambique and 

 manicoba, and he states that the washing is thorough. He 

 does not, however, state whether he arrived at this conclu- 

 sion by inspection only, or whether the conclusion was based 

 on analysis. 



With regard, in conclusion, to the general question of the 

 improved washing of dirty rubbers it is clear that as timt 

 goes on the matter will become of much less importance. 

 Already great improvement is noticeable in many African 

 grades, and the increased supervision now to be met with 

 in forest areas means greater purity in the product. Quite 

 a large number of rubber washing machines have recently 

 been sent out from England to the west coast of Africa so 

 that rubber washing may be performed before shipment, and 

 with improved methods of collection the present labors -of 

 these machines must tend to become lighter. 



The whole of the capital of the Crude Rubber Washing 

 Co., Limited, was subscribed by the promoters, directors and 

 friends, and within a week or so the shares were standing at 

 £4 premium, which shows great faith in the prospects of the 

 company, though at the same time I may say that most of 

 the new issues have been at once rushed to a premium. Of 

 course the new washing machines, of whatever patent, have 

 still to show what their wear and tear is, compared with the 

 old-fashioned rolls, and there are not wanting those who 

 prophesy the return of the rolls to first favor on account of 

 the expense of upkeep of the more complex machinery. 



It goes without saying that the continuing of high prices is 

 a matter of considerable anxiety for many manufacturers. Those 

 who bought largely some time ago 

 have cause to congratulate them- 

 selves on their astuteness, as they 

 can reap the advantage of the recent advances in the price 

 of goods, and are also in a position to dispose of any rubber 

 they do not require, at a considerable profit. Some of the 

 most important firms are refusing to make any contracts for 

 goods at the present time, and there are firms who contracted- 

 for the manufacture of goods some time ago without cover- 

 ing their requirements of rubber. Needless to say, in such 

 cases the situation is a decidedly awkward one. Some recent 

 remarks of mine about the waterproof branch need modifi- 

 cation, as the Master Waterproof Garment Manufacturers' 

 Association, at a meeting in Manchester on April 4, decided 

 to raise the price of garments 20 per cent., and piece goods 

 15 per cent. This decision has given great satisfaction to the 

 individual members of the association, who had been for 

 some time urging some such concerted action. 



POSITION 

 OF TRADE. 



